Combined propelling and steering mechanism for vessels



Jam 1925- 1,522,671

(2. CALLAHAN ET AL COMBINED PROPELLING AND STEERING MECHANISM FORVESSELS Filed June 1, 1921 ig 7 4 N0 32 9 19 I .22 17 9. 2 i7 Z Z1 35quumu Jll qry-sjlaniod sequently Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

pairs. stares LEZZSH i i F F EQE if NT COMBINED PROPEIlLING' ANDSTEERING MECHANISM. FOR VESSELS.

Applieationfiled'June 1, 1921. Serial No. 474,186.

'1 0 all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that. we, CATHERINE GALLA- HAN and Mann lVlANNS, citizens ofthe United States, residing at. Butfalo,-..in the county of Erieandstateof New. Yorlnhave invented certain new and useful Improvements inCombined .Propelling andzSteering Mechanismif'or Vessels, of which thefollowingzis a specification.

Our. invention relates. to. improvements in apparatus for propelling andsteeringz'boats, and more particularly for propelling and steering largecargo-carrying vessels.

In: large cargo-carrying. vessels, the power propellers are. invariablysubmerged and located at the rear end of the vessel, andconit is anextremely difficult. matter to control the front of the vessel inharbors, slips, etc, without toguideboth the front and: the rear ends-ofthe vessel.

, The primary object of our. invention: is to provide an apparatuswherebya vessel of this type can be steered in small, placesand directedintoslips or narrow branches with out the use of tugs to directthesa-me.

Another object of our invention is the provision of an apparatus of thiskind, which is located at the front end'of the vessel, and which mayserve to. assistjin propelling; the vessel in a' straight a-head course.or

inturning, and when in coeactioni with the submerged: propeller:andtheirudder at the rear end" of thevessel willimake it possibletoturn; the vessel in a circleof smaller diameter. than would' be.otherwise possible.

A. further-object is 'to-provide an apparatus'ofthis. kind, which canbearranged to assistin moving-the.vesselzrearw ard ly.

A. still further object is to provide an apparatus which, whileprimarily designed for steering. or controlling the. front end. of avessel; will co-act witlrthesubmerged propeller at thevrear end of thevessel and=1ncrease'thespeedof the vessel,

Astill furtherob'ect of' our invention is the provisionv of an.apparatus of this kind having; an air-propeller. rotatable to any anglewithin a complete circle, and-which may be controlled fromany desiredpoint within the vessel.

A still further object of our invention is to provide an; elevatedair-propeller. having its.shaft-swiveled about afixed-center so as topositionthe propeller parallel with'or at any angle to the longitudinalcenter: of the the use, of tugs; arrangedvessel; to provide means forpositioning the propeller, and for rotating the propeller. at anydesired speed, said means being controllable from a point distant fromthe propeller.

Vi ith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in apropeller adjustable in an arc of a circle or around a circle andwhich-is located at the front end of the vessel to assist. inpropelling. the vessel, or to'assist in steering or controlling thefront end thereof.

It further. consists-in a rotatable air-propeller elevated to a planeabove the deckof the vessel and adjustable to any angle within a circleso as to assist in propelling the vesselforwardly or rearwardly, orsteering the same in any direction.

It further consists in the use of a rotat able air-propeller adjustablymounted to swing to any angle, means controlled from a distant point foradjusting the propeller, and means for rotating the propeller, alsocontrolled from a distant point.

' It further consists in the novel features of construction and in thearrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter described andmore particularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

Inthe drawings Fig. 1 isa side elevation of afreight vessel. showing ourinvention applied to the front end thereof.

Fig.2 is a side elevation ofour invention as applied to thedeck of avessel.

' Fig. 3 is a plan view. r

Fig. 4t is a transverse section taken on line i -4i, Fig. 2, the annularcontact memher being omitted.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing a vessel inposition withina'harbor and-about to be steered into a slip, as indicated by dottedlines.

Referring to the various parts of the drawings by numerals ofreferences, 6 designates a vessel; that shown being of thefreight-carrying type. Vessels of this type are low and'narrowand-comparatively long and. they are usually of considerable draft toinsure a large carrying capacity. Such vessels are in general use onlarge inland lakes, and at various points along such lakesmust bedirected through narrow harbors and intosmall slips or branches, and asoftentimes miXed cargo is carried, shifts from one (lOCl-I or elevatorto another, or from a lib") dock to an elevator or elevators, orreversely, must be made to deliver the several separate shipments. Whendirecting a vessel from one place to another through crowded harbors orinto narrow slips r passages, tugs must be employed at the front end ofthe vessel, and as the front end is two, three, or four hundred feetdistant from the submerged propeller at the rear end thereof, said frontend will not respond to the rudder as quickly as necessary under suchconditions.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, 7 designates the usual submerged or partlysubmerged propeller at the rear end of the vessel, and 8 the rudder,commonly employed. 9 designates our improved apparatus which may bestationed at any suitable point at the front end of the vessel, as shownpreferably in advance of the pilot or wheel house 10 of the vessel sothat the pilot or wheelsman may control the apparatus and have the samein full view.

In its preferred form, our combined propelling and steering apparatuscomprises a suitable structure 11, which rises a considerable distanceabove the deck, indicated at 12, said structure being positioneddirectly over the longitudinal center of the vessel and formed ofstructural iron or other suitable material. In the form shown it hasupwardly converging supporting members 13 secured at their lower ends tothe deck in any suitable manner and connected together at their upperends, either by means of a casting, or structural connector pieces, asmay be desired, said casting or connector pieces forming a head 14-.

Fastened to the deck 12 is a step bearing 15 into which the lower end ofa verticallydisposed rotatable supporting rod 16 is entered. Said rodextends up through the head 14 and has a bevel gear wheel 17 securedthereto, said bevel gear wheel having a hub which is preferably securedwithin the head 14. In the drawing shown, the means employed forsecuring said hub within said head is a set screw 18. It is to beunderstood that said bevel gear, being fastened within the head of thestructure 11, is nonrotatable and therefore serves as an annular rack,in view of which it will be apparent that any annular or curved rack,not

necessarily in the form of a bevel gearwheel, may be employed.

Fastened to the rotatable rod 16 above the rack 17-the bevel gearwheelbeing so termed in its broadest senseis the hub 19 of an outwardlyextending arm 20, having a depending portion 21 at its outer end.IVhil'e we have shown said hub keyed to the rotatable rod 16 in Fig. 1,any other means suitable for fastening said hub to the rod may besubstituted therefor.

Fastened to the under side of the arm 20 longitudinal center of thevessel, depending on the direction of rotation of the, motor shaft. Saidmotoris preferably a slow ro-' tatingmotor so that a slow swinging ofthe arm 20 will take place when current is passed through said motor,thus enabling the arm to be positioned accurately at any desired pointwithout momentum of the arm and parts connected thereto being created,which would carry said arm beyond the desired point and require areversal of the motor to correct the adjustment.

Fastened to the lower end of the depending portion 21 of said arm, or inother words, to the outer end of said arm, is an electric motor 24having a gear-wheel 25 secured to its shaft, said gear-wheel be ing inmesh with a pinion 26 fastened to a propeller shaft 27 journaled in asuitable bearing 28 fastened to the lower end of the motor 24:, saidbearing 28 having an extension 29 provided with a guide wheel 30. Thepinion 26 is secured to the inner or rear end of the propeller shaft 27,while an air propeller 31 is secured to the front end thereof, saidpropeller having two or more arms 32 and being preferably of the typeusually employed in aeroplanes.

Fastened to the frame or structure 11 in the plane of the guide wheel isa guide track 33, against which the guide wheel 30 rides, said guidetrack having preferably a projecting flange 34 and the guide Wheel 30being peripherally grooved to receive said flange. Fastened to the frameor structure 11 above the track 33 is an annular contact 35 having acontact roller 36 adapted to ride over and in contact with the same,said roller being secured to an arm 37 depending from the motor 22 andserving as a current conductor for said motor.

While the current may be supplied to the motors 22 and 24 in anyapproved manner, we preferably connect a current-conducting wire 38 tothe guide track 33, a second current-conducting wire 39 to the stepbearing 15, and a third current-conducting wire 40 to the annularcontact 35. Therefore, when rotating the adjusting motor 22, as it maybe termed, current is passed" through the wire 40,'through the annularcontact 35, the roller 36 and arm 37, and the motor 22, and from themotor 22 through the arm 20 and rod 16 to the wire 39; said wires 39 and40 necessarily leading to a source ofcurrent and having a suitableswitch (not shown) to make and break the circuit formed by such parts,which switch may be within the wheel iii) or pilot house so that, whiledirecting the engineer in the hold of the vessel by the usual means toassist in steering the vessel, the wheelsman or pilot may control ourcombined propelling and steering apparatus at the front end of thevessel. The pilot or wheelsman will, of course, control the direction ofrotation of the motor shaft of motor 22 by any suitable electricalinstrument for the purpose, and after adjusting the arm by means of thebevel gear 23 traveling in contact with the rack 17 to bring the shaftof the propeller at the desired angle, he may close the circuit in whichthe motor 24: is included, said circuit including the wire 38, guidetrack 33, guide wheel 30, and shaft bearing 28 electrically connected tosaid motor in any suitable manner; and from said motor the arm 20 androd 16 are utilized with the wire 39 so that by means of a switch orother suitable device within the pilot or wheel house, the two wires 38and 39 may be electrically connected to pass current through the motor24 and rotate the shaft thereof, which through the medium of the gearwheel 25 and pinion 26 will rotate the propeller 31 at the desiredspeed. For example, assuming the vessel to be positioned within a harbordesignated by the numeral a1 in Fig. 5, and adapted to enter a slip orbranch of the harbor designated by the numeral 42, the wheelsman orpilot, whoever may have control of the combined propelling and steeringapparatus, will adjust the propeller to the angle shown in said figure,at the same time the engineer is given the signal to assist in steeringthe vessel in the usual manner by manipulating the propeller 7. Thevelocity of the air-pro-peller 31 will create action against the air anddraw the forward end of the vessel to the left, as indicated by dottedlines in said figure, thus making it possible to direct the vessel intothe slip indicated at 42 without resorting to the use of tugs for thepurpose, which would entail considerable expense and waste of time.

It will be apparent that by positioning the air-propeller 31 with itsaxis directly above the longitudinal center of the vessel, the rotationthereof will assist in propelling the vessel at increased speed, withthe result that a larger number of trips can be made during a season,and this will also result in a considerable saving of coal.

Vhile an air-propeller arranged to swing in a complete circle willenable a vessel to be moved backward with greater facility,

a condition requiring such movement does.

not often arise. Therefore, it is not essential to our invention thatthe air-propeller be arranged to swing in a complete circle, as ordinaryconditions of use may not require a greater range of movement for saidpropeller than ninety degrees, and therefore a segmental rack may beemployed instead of the annular rack 17, also a segmental guide trackand contact instead of the annular track 33 and annular contact Vhere agreater range of movement than ninety degrees is desired for thepropeller, the segments employed in place of the rack 17 track 33 andcontact 35 may be enlarged. We have, however, shown and described theseparts as forming complete circles so that the full range of movement canbe secured when desired.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. The combinationwith a vessel, ofa l frame rising from the deck thereof and having acurved gear rack at its upper end, an arm circularly adjustable, anelectric motor carried by said arm, a gear wheel secured to the shaft ofsaid motor and in mesh with said rack, an air-propeller mounted forrotary movement in said arm, a second electric motor carried by said armand operatively connected with the shaft of said air-propeller, andelectrical connections between said motors and a source of current tooperate said motors.

2. The combination with a vessel, of a frame secured to the vesselhaving a rack at its upper end and a curved contact in a plane beneathsaid rack, a circularly adjustable arm having its axis coincident withthe axis of said rack, an electric motor secured to said arm having acontact engaging said curved contact, a gear wheel secured to saidelectric motor and being in mesh with said rack, an air-propeller havingits shaft journaled in said arm, a second electric motor carried by saidarm, a gear wheel on the shaft of said second electric motor, a pinionon the shaft of said propeller in mesh with said last-mentioned gearwheel, and electrical connection between said curved contactand a sourceof electric current and also between said motors and said source ofelectric current, said electrical connections including means to controlthe current individually to said motors.

3. The combination with a vessel, of a frame secured to said vessel, anannular guide track on said frame, an annular contact on said frameabove said guide track, an annular gear rack on said frame above saidannular contact, a vertically-disposed rotatable rod extending upwardlythrough said frame and gear rack, an arm secured to said rotatable rodand extending laterally therefrom, said arm having a depending portionat its outer end, an electric motor secured to said arm and having acontact in engagement with the annular contact on said frame, a gearwheel on the shaft of said motor in mesh with said annular rack, asecond electric motor secured to the depending portion of said arm, agear wheel on the shaft Ell] lUO

of said second electric motor, a, bearing member secured to said motorhaving a guide said propellershaft in mesh with the gear wheel on theshaft, of said. last-mentioned electric motor, and 'Wires connected,respectively, to sziid annular track, said annular Contact and saidrotatable rod, and; leading 10 to 'a source of power, said Wires andparts to which they are connectedbeing, arranged to conduct electriccurrent through said electr cimot r In testimony whereof e affix oursigna- 15 cures V 7 CATHERINE v GALLAHAN. MARY MANNS.

